Dwarven Defender
Dwarven Defender is a prestige class in NWN2. Dwarven Defender Description: The dwarven defender is a sponsored champion of a dwarven cause, a dwarf aristocrat, a dwarven deity, or the dwarven way of life. As the name might imply, this character is a skilled combatant trained in the arts of defense. A line of dwarven defenders is a far better defense than a 10-foot-thick wall of stones, and much more dangerous. Most Dwarven defenders are fighters, paladins, rangers, or clerics, although ex-barbarians, sorcerers, wizards, and druids can certainly all benefit from the defensive capabilities of this prestige class. Rogues, bards, and monks usually depend too heavily on mobility to use the abilities of the dwarven defender class to their fullest. Requirements Race: Dwarf Alignment: Any lawful Base Attack Bonus: +7 Feats: Dodge, Toughness Class feature progression Additional progressions Defensive stance The dwarven defender can become a bastion of defense. They cannot move from the spot they're defending, but they gain +2 enhancement bonus to Strength and +4 to Constitution, a +4 Dodge bonus to AC, and a +2 bonus to all saves. A 1st-level dwarven defender can use this ability once per day. They gain an additional use every two levels beyond 1st. A dwarven defender with a ranged weapon equipped cannot activate defensive stance. As of Patch 1.06, this feat has been fixed and is now working correctly. It was broken in all patches prior to 1.06. The feat cannot be altered by modifications, since it is hardcoded into the game and any reference to scripts or the spells.2da doesn't matter. Improved defense The Dwarven Defender receives a +1 dodge bonus to AC at 1st level. This bonus improves by an additional +1 at 4th, 7th, and 10th level. Uncanny dodge At 2nd level the dwarven defender retains their Dexterity bonus even when caught flat-footed. Trap sense At 4th level the dwarven defender gets a +1 reflex bonus against all traps. At 9th level this bonus increases by an additional +1. Damage reduction At 6th level, the dwarven defender gains DR 3/-. This increases to DR 6/- at 10th level. Improved uncanny dodge At 6th level, the dwarven defender can no longer be sneak attacked except by a character with 4 or more total levels in classes that grant sneak attack than the character levels of the dwarven defender. Gameplay Notes * The Dwarven Defender can achieve high damage resistance in fewer levels than other classes. Barbarians, and Warlocks must take at least 19-22 levels to achieve similar results to a level 17 Defender. NWN comparison *This class was introduced in the Hordes of the Underdark NWN expansion. *The dwarven defender in NWN didn't have improved defense and received different bonuses in defensive awareness rather than trap sense and improved uncanny dodge. *The discipline skill that was created for NWN was removed in NWN2 and combat feats relating to it now function closer to 3.5 rules. DnD 3.5 comparison *The parry skill was created by NWN and is not a feature of DnD 3.5. It has returned in NWN2 for the same reasons it was in NWN. *In DnD 3.5 the ability bonuses gained from Defensive Stance are not listed as enhancement bonuses. Furthermore, the duration of defensive stance was limited (to 3 + constitution modifier rounds), and he receives -2 strength penalty from the end of the stance to the end of the encounter. *In the PnP, there was a feature called Mobile defense in the 8th level, which allows the dwarven defender to take a 5-foot step on his turn while in his defensive stance. However, since 5-foot step was never implemented, this is not present in NWN series. *'Trap sense II'(Trap sense +2 in PnP) was also present in the 8th level, but it is moved to level 9. Reason is unknown. External Resources *NWNWiki:Dwarven Defender *DnD 3.5 dwarven defender